Drifter
by HeyLulu
Summary: Alice has fallen on hard times, and things seem to keep going from bad to worse, until she finally has a stroke of luck and meets someone who will show her a kind of love that Alice had only dreamt of.
1. Preface

I do not own these characters. I'm just borrowing them

Preface

There was something about this girl that provoked my curiosity. She was sitting alone in the both next to the door. She looked worn, like she hadn't slept or eaten a proper meal in days. Her hair was black and spiked in many directions, and every now and again she would run her fingers through the thick locks, but each time they would fall back into place as if she had never touched them. She was wearing a tight black hoodie that was zipped up all the way, and from what I could tell she was wearing jeans that were worn and tattered. She didn't look up when I went over to her.

"How are you doing tonight?" I asked.

She sighed through her nose and continued to stare at the table.

"I'm fine. May I have some water please?" She was terse, her voice unwavering.

"Of course. Anything else?"

"No." She finally looked at me for the first time since she walked into the diner, and I could have sworn I heard her take in a breath of air as if she had seen something shocking, but before I could react she continued, "Just the water, please". She quickly looked back at the table and grabbed the menu that was laid out for her and flipped through the plastic laminated pages.

I smiled warmly, "I'll be right back."

I haven't written in a while. I know my writing style isn't the best, but I had this story in my head and wanted to share. Hope you enjoy. All comments are welcome, if any.


	2. Ch 1

"Rosalie, you can't be serious." I slammed the bathroom door shut as Rosalie sat on the bed looking guilty.

"Honey, I'm sorry." She said, "I know this isn't fair to you, but…"

"Rose! I came out to San Diego to help you out with rent and school, and now you're getting married! I mean, under any other circumstances I'd be elated, but you're kind of throwing me under a bus here. How am I supposed to get by on my own down here? I work as Snow White at Disney Land for fucks sake." I paced the room back and forth while Rosalie patiently waited for me to let out my frustration from her spot on the bed.

"That job doesn't exactly have the best benefits and it sure as hell can't pay the rent around here. I can't afford to be here by myself and go to school too." I felt like crying. I had come from Seattle to live here with Rosalie under the pretense that we would be roommates and I would be able to take advantage of the public college system here in California. So, I took a job as Snow White and plastered a grin on my face and waved to little kids every day just so I could split rent with Rosalie and attend classes at night. You'd think a princess would be living a better life, but if I've learned anything, life sucks. Then you die.

"Honey, I know, I really want to help you though!" she pleaded. "I can let out my room and find you someone you can live with."

"Rose, I don't want to live with a total stranger." I huffed. In reality I could live with anyone, really. I tended to be a bit of a social butterfly and loved meeting new people, but I was pissed at the situation Rosalie had put me in. "I mean," I continued, "how would you feel if I put you in a situation like this?"

Rosalie gave me that look that signaled that she was losing her patience with me. I didn't want this to turn into a full blown fight, so I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair and, defeated, and plopped down on the bed next to Rosalie.

"Alice, I never meant to hurt you…" She trailed off, searching for something comforting to say, but I interrupted her, "I know, I know. These things happen, I guess. You didn't know you were getting married when I came out here…" Which is true, I guess. She had been dating E. since before I had come down to San Diego, of course, but I never thought their relationship would progress to marriage so quickly. In hindsight though, the two of them being together made more sense than anything else. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and turned to Rosalie.

"Rose, I'm sorry. I know I'm being a bit selfish and, well, I'll think of something when it comes to my living arrangements." I paused and let the gravity of the situation sink in. Rosalie was getting married. My friend since ninth grade, for ten years I've been like sisters with this woman and she's going off and getting married. I took her hand in mine and looked at her.

"You're getting married." I smiled, "You're getting married!"

Rosalie smiled and squeezed my hand, "Yes I know," she said, her eyes tearing up, "it's fantastic, isn't it?"

"Absolutely" I said, and hugged her. My friend. My sister. I'd have to be saying goodbye soon.


	3. Ch 2

"Pick up pick up pick up" I chanted into my phone. I nervously gnawed on the plastic straw that was sticking out of my apple juice box. Suddenly a charming voice on the other end answered, "What up, sis!"

"Jasper!" I exclaimed, slamming my juice box onto the counter. "Thank God, I need your help!"

For a second there was a pause on his end, and then he asked, begrudgingly, "How much do you need?"

"Oh Jasper," I laughed, "I don't need your money."

I could hear a sigh of relief on his end, "Thank God, because I don't have any. But seriously, what do you need?"

"Listen," I began, "things with Rose have kind of fallen through…" Jasper interrupted before I could continue. "Oh? What happened? You to fight or something?"

"No, we didn't fight… she's getting married and kicking me out. I have no place else to go…" I trailed off hoping he'd catch my drift.

"I see. Well awesome! When is the wedding? Who is she marrying? Can I come?"

Fucking idiot.

"Jasper," I started, bringing my hand to my face in a frustrated manner, "what I'm asking is for a place to stay. Can I come live with you?"

He paused for a moment, processing the question, "Well Alice, I don't know. I just got orders to deploy in the next two months…"

"Again?" I exclaimed, "You just got back didn't you? Aren't there other people in the Army besides you?"

"I do what I'm told to do, ok? It's my job. Listen though, you really need to move back here to Seattle?"

"Well… The only reason I came here was to help Rose out with rent and all. But now that she's getting married I don't really want to be here. Seattle is home, you know?"

"Yeah, I know how you feel," he sighed, "Well, look, um, I can put you up until I leave, but you need to find a job to help with rent!" He added, "No freeloading."

"Duh." I said, intelligently.

"When are you going to be here?" He asked.

"Next week. I'll be up by Saturday."

"Ok," he said. "I'll see you then. Let me know if you need anything"

"Got it. Thanks"

We both hung up at the same time.


	4. Ch 3

I packed up all I could in my little Toyota yaris. I wished Rosalie a happy life and off I went, windows down and music up. Before I knew it, six hours had flown by and I was passing through San Francisco. I had pulled over in Oakland to fill up on gas and perhaps find a place to stay for the night. Although, when I looked around, Oakland looked kind of shady. I had never been here before, but I knew it wasn't a place where a girl like me would want to be alone. Especially at night. I scanned the surrounding area for a place to stay, and when I didn't find any, I parked next to the closest bar and went inside. After a few hours, a few drinks, and a surprise drag show/pool contest, I headed back out to conquer the world with a newfound energy, only to find my car was not in the place that I had left it. I scanned up and down the street quickly for the familiar shape and color of my small car, but saw nothing. My heart sank into my stomach as an overwhelming feeling of fear and panic set into me. I was freaking out. Where was my car? Where was my fucking car? My breathing became erratic. I broke out into a cold sweat. I had to sit down. All my stuff was in there. I couldn't believe my stupidity. What was I going to do? I didn't know anyone in this area I could call or contact. I had no place to stay. Why did this happen to me?

From my spot on the curb, I looked up to the heavens in a resentful despair, when the back of my head smacked into a hard metal pole sticking out of the sidewalk. I followed the length of it with my eyes until they landed on a sign that said, "No Parking Wednesdays between 12-4am for Street Cleaning. Violators Will be Towed"

I checked my phone. It said it was Wednesday. 3am. As realization crashed into me I wanted to scream FUCK MY LIFE as loud as I could. So I did, and got a strange look from the gas station attendant across the street. He can go to hell for all I care, but the good news was that I knew where my car was. There was a phone number for the impound lot at the bottom of the sign, so I called it and got directions. It was about a 20 minute walk, but I didn't mind. When I finally got there I gave the attendant my information and he gave me a slip that said it would cost me

"Five hundred dollars?"

"Hey," the attendant said, a defenseless look spreading across his face, "I don't make up the fines, the state does. Take it up with them."

"But I don't have that kind of money…" I started desperately. In fact, I was on the brink of selling myself on the corner if gas prices went up just one more cent, I was so broke.

"Then you 'aint getting your car back. Sorry." The attendant seemed like he had heard every kind of sob story imaginable being on the other side of that counter for so long. I paced back and forth in the tiny office for a minute and collected my thoughts. I slowly and regretfully came to the realization that I was never going to see my car again, and the best thing to do would be to call Jasper in the morning.

Frustrated, I wiped a tear from my eye and asked the attendant, "Can I at least get my stuff out?"

He looked annoyed at the fact that he had to get up, but he motioned for me to follow him to the lot in the back. I saw my poor car sitting there in the midst of other unwanted and abandoned cars and miscellaneous auto parts. I condensed everything I needed into one backpack and headed off, giving my car one last sorrowful look as the attendant closed and locked the gate behind him. I began wondering around in aimless directions, not sure where I was going. I didn't want to stop. Not at night. Not in this neighborhood.

I felt sick. I didn't know what I was going to do. I knew that Jasper couldn't leave base at a driving distance that was more than three hours away, so there was no way he could get me even if I asked. And I'm sure as hell Rosalie wouldn't be able to take time off work or her wedding plans to drive up eight hours to come get me. I was stuck. I was stranded. I was about to have a panic attack. But then I heard it. In the distance, the sound of a train in motion echoed between the trees.


	5. Ch 4

The rhythmic clanking of the trains wheels on the steel tracks awoke me from my slumber. Streams of sunlight filtered through the cracks of the door of the car, and I could feel the heat from the afternoon sun on my body. Still, it was February, and therefore cold. It was a constant, bitter reminder that I was no longer in Southern California. While I was unloading what I could from my car, I made sure to layer up, but of course, I didn't plan on bunking down in an empty train car for two days. From what I could gather, we had finally crossed over the Washington border, but I had no idea where I was now. I had hoped that we would be going through Seattle, but at the moment I could smell the ocean, so I knew we were nowhere near where I needed to be. I had found that there was really nothing better to do on these trains than sleep, but now that the sun was close to setting, I knew the train would stop soon, giving me a chance to at least look for some water. For the past few days the train had only stopped in remote wooded areas, with the only sign of man was the aged industry of old train stations, long abandoned. Needless to say, food was slim, but tonight as I gazed through the snow covered forest, I could make out the outline of a small restaurant, a diner, where I'm sure the food was hot and full of delicious fat and calories that I so desperately craved.

With my bag in tow, I hopped off the train as it slowed down to a reasonable speed and followed my nose to the diner I had spotted earlier. The sun was well gone by now, and I wondered what time it was. My phone had died ages ago so my only concept of time was the position of the sun in the sky. All I knew was that I was due for a nice hot meal… the only questions was, could I afford one. And after looking in my wallet and scrounging around my bag for extra change, it would seem that fate would make me suck it's dick again, because I barely had a dollar to my name. I don't know what it was that I did to deserve all this shit that was happening to me, but I swear I would never do it again if it meant I could just have a cheeseburger.

As I walked up to the door, I could see that ice had been chipped off the steps, and the remains crunched under my feet. A wave of heat hit me as soon as I opened the door and I was immediately comforted by the warmth and the sweet smells emanating from the kitchen, even if I couldn't afford to eat anything. The place was empty, so I helped myself to a booth in the corner and slowly thawed out from being in the cold so long. I faintly felt the presence of another person next to me asking me how I was doing that evening. I internally resented being asked that question, but knew she was supposed to ask. I muttered a response and asked for water. When she muttered something else but didn't leave, I looked up at her and my heart suddenly caught in my throat. I had come to find myself gazing at the most beautiful person I had ever seen. I quickly realized that not only was I staring, but I looked like fucking shit and there was a snowballs chance in hell that anything would ever happen with this person. Shit, I was going to go back outside and catch the next train headed north and never see this person again so why the fuck am I filling my dumb head with some bullshit romantic fantasies? I wanted to slam my head into the table repeatedly, but at the risk of looking like a crazy person, I decided to fiddle with the menu instead.


	6. Ch 5

"I think she's homeless." I said to Angela from our spot behind the counter. After I had given the girl her water, she had gulped it down like she hadn't had any in days. I refilled her glass and asked once more if I could get her any food, but she insisted that she was fine. I could see right through it, though.

"That's a shame." She replied, "You think she's going to buy anything?"

"What does it matter? There's no one else here anyway. What difference would it make if we gave her something to eat for free?"

"Hey, it's your ass if you get caught giving away food, not mine." I glared at Angela as she disappeared into the kitchen, and looked back over at the girl, who had buried her head into her hands and seemed to be deep in thought. I sighed hopelessly and went back to refilling the salt and pepper shakers. I was onto my fifth table when I heard the bells on the door chime and looked up in time to see the silhouette of the girl slowly disappearing into the night. I glanced up at the clock and saw it was already 9pm. Quitting time. I quickly threw my apron in the back and grabbed my coat. I called back to Angela that I was leaving and didn't bother to wait for a response before I rushed out the door, only to find the girl sitting on the lone bench underneath the streetlamp down the road a bit. The snow that slowly fell quieted the earth around us, and the sound of my footsteps as I slowly approached her were deafening to my ears. She did not look up at me, but simply hugged her backpack to her body tighter.

"Hey, are you ok?" I tentatively asked. She slowly looked over at me and I could see in her eyes that she was struggling to answer me. I slowly walked over and sat next to her on the bench, making sure to keep a respectable distance. I didn't want her to feel threatened.

"What's your name?" I asked. When she did not respond I continued, "My name is Bella, if you were wondering." She smiled slightly but kept her eyes to her shoes.

"I'm Alice" She said finally, "Sorry I'm being so quiet. I haven't had the best day. I haven't had the best couple days, for that matter." She frowned and played with the zipper on her bag. I watched her for a moment studying her small fingers. Her nails were chipped and dirty, and the rest of her hands looked worn from overexposure from the sun and wind. As I examined further, I could see that her clothes were tattered and worn, like the rest of her. Her skin was fragile and pale, with the exception of her cheeks, which were red from the cold and wind. The snow continued to fall silently around her, some falling on her shoulders softly. She brought her uncovered hands up around her body and stroked her arms to try and warm up a bit, and I was suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to take care of her, to prevent her from going through any more hardship.

Finally being pulled from my daze, I asked, "Do you have a place to stay tonight?"

Alice looked over at me and smiled a bit. I could see through those crystal blue eyes that there was too much pride in her soul to come out and ask for help. "No, not tonight." She sniffed and looked back at her shoes, tugging on the zipper to her backpack again.

"Listen," I began, "I, um…" I cleared my throat and nervously picked at my nails. For some reason I was having trouble getting out what I wanted to say and I wasn't sure why. Alice's eyes bore into me and I knew I had to continue, otherwise she'd think I was weird. "Well, I know I'm a total stranger and I'm taking a leap of faith here myself in assuming you're a good person, but you seem to be so I'll ask anyway…" God she's going to think I'm a total judgmental jerk, "Would you like to stay with me tonight? I mean, I live by myself just down the road and have a sofa bed you could sleep on, if you want." I really need to get a grip and stop babbling, "You can have a nice hot bath if you want, too. Not that you're dirty or anything…" Again, I cleared my throat as a reflex to get myself to stop saying stupid things. I couldn't look at her directly in the eyes after saying what I just said. Ugh, I bet she thinks I'm a complete and total idiot, but to my relief, I heard a small giggle. I finally had the courage to look over at Alice and saw her smiling at me. She had seemed to relax a little and wasn't holding her backpack as tightly as before.

"There's nothing more I'd like than a hot shower right now." A concerned look grew over Alice's face as she asked, "Are you sure? I don't want to be an inconvenience to you. I don't have anything to repay you with…"

"Don't think anything of it." I said quickly. "We all fall on hard times. I just want to help you through yours."

I could tell that Alice had wanted to ask me more questions, or perhaps insist on talking me out of my generosity and leaving her to fend for herself, but she didn't persist. Instead, the wind picked up and sent a chill through the both of us, and as she brought her hood up over her head, she said, "Well, shall we then?"

I smiled, and as we both stood up and made our way down the street, I had the overwhelming urge to hold Alice's hand. I don't know why but I wanted her close to me, but I had a feeling that wasn't going to happen any time soon.


	7. Ch 6

There was a white heat that shot through my fingers and toes and coursed throughout the rest of my body as the hot water pounded against my frozen skin. I stood there with my head down, watching the water as it fell from my body and onto the floor of the tub. I could feel the dirt and grime collected over a period of three days of not being able to bathe wash away from me, along with the stress that was just an hour ago consuming pretty much every aspect of my life. Suddenly my heart filled with a feeling of immense happiness as I thought of everything Bella had done for me so far. She has invited me, a total stranger, into her home and has offered me a safe and warm place to sleep for the night. At this point in time I couldn't imagine anything more that I could want.

After a respectable amount of time, I shut the water off, and as soon as I pulled back the curtain, I saw that Bella had left me a towel and a change of clean clothes sitting on top of the sink. She must have snuck in and taken my dirty clothes. I wrapped myself in the fluffy white towel and the subtle smell of baby powder hit my nose, and I faintly wondered if this was how Bella smelled. There was also a clean t-shirt and flannel pajama bottoms for me to slip in to. I quickly changed and dried my hair the best I could with the towel, and opened the bathroom door to head downstairs. I was met with the sweet aroma of garlic and other spices brewing in the kitchen. As I descended the stairs, Bella looked up at me from her place in the kitchen and smiled, "I hope you like lasagna"

I was glad I was holding onto the banister, because at that moment my knees felt weak at the prospect of eating an actual meal. At this point in time I would eat just about anything, so there was no way I was going to turn down lasagna, or anything else Bella may have made. Ignoring the odd look I was receiving from Bella when I didn't answer her right away, I walked over to her and hugged her, taking her completely off guard. She was stiff in my arms, holding a spatula in one hand, but soon she relaxed and wrapped her free hand around my waist.

"Thank you" I said, holding back tears. I guess Bella sensed what I was feeling, because I could feel her grip on me tighten, and she whispered, "It's ok…" We stayed like that for a long moment until I had my bearings. Still holding me, Bella looked at me and tentatively asked, "Alice… When was the last time you ate?"

I had to think for a second. When _did_ I eat last? I picked up a few candy bars and bags of chips here and there whenever the train stopped, but an actual meal? That would have had to been…

"Tuesday night." I said sheepishly, wincing slightly as I saw the look on her face go from concerned to disbelieving.

"What?" Bella exclaimed, "How are you even standing right now?" She quickly moved me towards the table and motioned for me to sit down. "You must be starving," she continued, heading back over to the stove and removing the lasagna. "You could have said something at the restaurant, you know. I would have given you some food there…"

As Bella hastily placed the hot plate down on the table, she paused to look at me and I smiled softly. She blew a strand of hair out of her eyes that had fallen out of place and sighed. "Well," she said, "what do you want to drink?"

I laughed heartily at her behavior, and was able to mumble out, "Water is fine". She soon placed two glasses of water and two plates on the table and sat down next to me, taking the plate in front of me and placing a slice of lasagna on it. At this point just the smell of such a hearty meal had made me feel full already, and I was past the point of feeling hunger pains, but my mouth watered all the same. When Bella returned my plate to me, she had added a slice of garlic bread and a bit of salad, which I had failed to notice she had even put on the table since I had had my eye on the lasagna this entire time. Despite her persistence, I waited until she had served herself before I began eating, having been raised with such manners. Trying not to be rude, I refrained from stuffing my face when we finally did start eating, but damn it was hard. Her cooking was fantastic, and this was by far the best meal I had ever had in my whole life, hands down.

As we shared our meal, Bella tentatively inquired as to how I had come to be in such a sorry state, not in those words of course. I gladly explained to her that this had come to be due to one unfortunate event after another, and that I did have a family I was planning on staying with, even if that family consisted only of my brother. She was glad that I had a plan and a family to stay with, and I was glad that I would only be taking advantage of her generous hospitality for only one evening. Even though she didn't make me feel unwelcome at all, I still felt like such a burden on her for even being here. Just for inviting me into her home and sharing a meal with me was way more than I could have ever hoped for, and I made a quiet promise to myself that at some point in time I would repay her in some way for her kindness.

After my third helping of lasagna, I pushed my plate away and insisted that I take care of the dishes. Bella smiled and said we could do them together. So we gathered them up and headed towards the sink. As I was wrapping up the leftovers, I couldn't help but become curious as to why Bella lived alone.

"Oh, well," she started, and pointed to the folded American flag sitting atop the mantelpiece in the living room. "This was my dad's house, and I came here to live with him while I went to high school. It was just the two of us for awhile, but he was killed in action a little over a year ago… He was a cop." She paused for a moment, and I could see in her face that she was trying to push back any tears that may break through. I reached out to comfort her, but she shook her head and cleared her throat. "He left everything to me. His pension… the house," she continued, "My mom has been trying to convince me to sell it and move back with her to Florida. I don't think I can do it though. I've really grown to love this place too much. I have plenty of friends here too." She smiled fondly, drying her hands on a dish towel.

"This place is really charming, what I've seen of it anyway." I said. Bella chuckled.

"Thanks." She said. She headed over to the living room where she began to take apart the couch and unfold the bed. "I've been thinking for a long while that I want to turn this place into a bed and breakfast. I've been using the money my father left me to take some business classes at the community college and, well, I really think I can do it. The only thing I really need to do is get the right permits and remodel some of the bedrooms."

I walked over to the bed and together we laid the white sheets out over the mattress. She threw some pillows on the bed and sighed, "Well, are you tired?"

"No, actually. I'm pretty wide awake. I, um," I cleared my throat, still a bit embarrassed at my current homeless situation, "I slept most of the day on the train. What about you?"

"Nope. My shift at work is from three to nine, so I usually stay up all night as it is."

"Well, we can stay up and hang out for a bit if you want. I don't mind. Unless you want you want some privacy…"

"No, as long as you don't mind. You're kind of easy to talk to for some reason." She smiled bashfully.

I laughed, feeling a bit shy all of a sudden as my mind jumped to the prospect that she was actually flirting with me. All I knew was I would stay up all night if it meant that I could keep making her smile like that.

"Hey, thanks," I said as un-bashfully as I could, but I could still feel the blood rush to my cheeks. We stood there silently for a moment, neither of us sure of what to say. Thankfully, Bella broke the silence.

"Would you like a beer?"

I smiled, "I'd love one." As Bella disappeared into the kitchen, I went over to my bag and pulled out my laptop. I amazed even myself that I had been able to carry it around this long without it getting lost or stolen or even getting it damaged in some way. When it had booted up, I clicked shuffle on my iTunes and let my music softly fill the silence in the living room. Bella came back out just then with our drinks.

"Oh, nice," she said, "What kinds of music do you have on there?" She sat down next to me on the bed and handed me my beer.

"A bit of everything, I suppose. That's kind of a loaded question. I could go on forever about music."

"Me too." She smiled, and took a sip of her beer. She adjusted herself on the bed so that she was laying down with her feet propped up. I did the same thing, and in doing so I positioned myself just close enough to where our arms were touching, and when she didn't show any intention of moving, I became more comfortable and took comfort in the fact that I was even this close to Bella. We talked for ages, and I found that she was really funny and shy, and what was even better was that she liked to laugh at my dumb jokes. We seemed to talk about anything under the sun, and soon the minutes turned into hours. I eventually found myself fighting to keep my eyes open, and slowly, the soft tunes that filled the room along with the sweet alluring scent of Bella guided me into a quiet, deep slumber.


	8. Ch 7

When I woke up I found myself in my living room, and for a moment I had forgotten how I had ended up there. My eyes landed on Alice and memories of last night came back to me in an instant. Alice and I had drifted off to sleep together and she had somehow during the course of the night ended up in my embrace. Not that I was complaining. I couldn't help but take advantage of the position I found myself in, so I slowly rested my head back on my pillow and gently inhaled the soft fragrance of Alice's hair. It smelled like vanilla, because she had used my shampoo the other night, though mixed with her natural scent it triggered something in my brain that made me want to stay close to this woman. Unfortunately it was getting late in the morning and I had to help Alice continue on her journey.

Not wanting to wake her, I slowly removed myself from her arms and headed upstairs for a quick shower. I had snuck in and stolen Alice's clothes so I could wash them, so as I was waiting for the water to warm up, I took her clothes out of the dryer and folded them neatly. I couldn't help but notice her underwear.

Boy shorts. She must be queer. My imagination ran wild with possibilities at the thought.

I quickly finished up and placed her clothes on the foot of the bed. She stirred a bit at the sound of me walking around, but didn't wake. I headed upstairs and took my shower.

* * *

><p>The delicious smell of bacon woke me from my slumber. I stirred and stretched out and suddenly remembered I was in Bella's living room. I slowly rolled over to the side and made my way to the kitchen. Bella was facing away from me and humming to herself while she cut up an avocado. She must have been making lunch. I silently sat down at the table and admired the view of her in those skinny jeans. I marveled at the fact that she was up already, but then the clock on the wall said it was almost noon, so I immediately felt a bit bad for sleeping in.<p>

Bella turned around to open the cabinet and gave a start when she saw me sitting here. She nearly dropped the knife in her hand.

"Jesus! Alice, you're like a ninja! How long have you been sitting there?" She exclaimed, placing a hand over her heart.

I gave a hearty laugh in reply, "Only a few minutes. Are you going to be ok?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." She laughed and pulled some saran wrap out of the cabinet and wrapped up the sandwich she was making and placed it in a brown paper bag.

"Would you like some breakfast or something?" she asked.

"No thanks. I'm still full from dinner."

"Well, your clothes are all clean and ready for you to put on if you want to get dressed. I put them at the foot of your bed." She pointed to the pile of clothes sitting in the living room. I was touched.

"Bella, you didn't have to do that!" I said, walking over to my clothes and going through them.

"It wasn't a big deal, Alice. I just threw them in the wash. I figured you'd appreciate some clean clothes."

I held out in front of me the underwear I was wearing yesterday. "You even folded my underwear." I said, marveling at how it was neatly folded into a square. I could hear Bella bashfully laugh from the kitchen.

"Um, yeah, sorry. I didn't mean to get all up in your business or anything…"

I giggled a little, "Its ok. It's cute" I looked over to her and saw a faint blush on her cheeks and I swooned just a little. Collecting myself, I gathered my clothing and changed quickly in the bathroom upstairs. Once I was finished, I couldn't help but poke my head in what I thought to be her room and quickly glance around. There was nothing out of the ordinary – some posters of bands on the wall, stickers, pictures of friends and family, and a messy desk littered with papers and schoolwork. Then, my eyes caught onto one of those Lance Armstrong bracelets sitting on her dresser, only this one was rainbow. Intrigued, I contemplated going in and investigating further, but decided against it. Though, this little clue gave me incentive to pay attention to any other subtle hints that might lead me to believe that she was playing for my team.

When I came back downstairs, Bella was waiting for me in the living room with her coat on. She had collected my things and even folded the bed back into the couch. As I descended the stairs, she stood up and turned to face me, smiling.

"All ready?"

"Gee Bella, I didn't realize you wanted to get rid of me this badly." I joked

"No! Well, I mean," she laughed nervously and blushed, but quickly regained herself, "I'm, well, we're going downtown."

"Is that so?" I said, zipping up my jacket. "And what will we be doing downtown?"

"You'll see. I have a treat for you."

"Bella!" I face faulted. "You don't need to do anything! After everything you've done, I should be the one treating you!"

"Alice, really, it's fine. I really want to do this."

"But-!"

"No!" Bella grabbed me by the arms and gently shook me. "You're not allowed to fight this!"

I laughed and gave into the shaking, lolling my head back and forth, "But I want to fight it!" I grabbed her arms and shook her back. We went back and forth like this for a minute before the two of us somehow ended up wrestling each other on the floor until we laid out in the living room exhausted. She was a lot stronger than she led on to be. As we laid there and laughed while we tried to catch our breath, I couldn't help but notice that our legs were entwined in such a way, that if I moved just slightly I'd be pushing up against her in a most pleasing and intimate way. However, having just met her yesterday and not even knowing what she was thinking at the moment, I slowly removed myself before the situation got awkward and sat up next to her. With her face flushed, she smiled up at me in the sweetest way possible, and again, I had to catch my breath, and not because of the wrestling.

"You ready to go?" I was able to choke out.

"Yeah, let's get out of here."

With that, I helped her up and we collected my things before heading out the door into the chilly February morning.


	9. Ch 8

The drive into town was quiet. The trees that passed by were dusted with a fresh layer of snow, and they were so tall they seemed like they could touch the sky. The heat in Bella's old truck took a while to kick in, but now that it had, it made her old rust bucket quite cozy. A quiet melody played on the radio, and as I looked over at Bella, I thought to myself that I had to remember what she looked like now. I had to remember that at this moment, she was wearing oversized blue and purple mittens that she crocheted herself, and that her brown eyes were the same shade as her hair, which quite often she pushed back with her long fingers. Her cheeks showed the faintest hint on pink on them, and as she noticed me looking, they grew a shade darker. I looked away quickly, but could see out of the corner of my eye she was smiling sweetly.

I looked ahead of us, and I could see over the horizon a small town in the clearing. It seemed pretty much like Anytown USA. We passed some shops, a hardware store, and a few small places to eat. Bella pulled into a parking lot next to a visitor's center and I immediately knew what was up.

"Bella, you didn't" I said disapprovingly.

"Alice, we've been over this. You said you weren't going to argue."

"But really, this is too much… I'd feel bad accepting something like this…"

Bella smiled reassuringly. "Alice, relax." Bella hopped out of the truck and made her way over to my side. As I was situating my bags, she opened the passengers door and continued, "This is really only costing about ten bucks. It's no trouble really." Bella took my backpack from me and draped it over her shoulder. As I stepped down from the truck she squeezed my hand and smiled.

"I just want to make sure you get home ok."

My heart fluttered. "You're too much, really." I squeezed her hand back and she smiled in a way that left me in a euphoric state for the entire time she was in the bus station purchasing my ticket. The cold didn't even seem to affect me. Instead I watched as my breath swirled around in front of me and wondered if I was ever going to feel sad again. It was then that I noticed the engine of the charter bus roar to life and the bells on the office door chime loudly. Bella had rushed out and was now jogging towards me.

"Your bus is about to leave!"

Crap. I spoke too soon.

Bella spoke quickly as we made our way to the charter bus. "Here are your tickets. You'll have to make a few transfers, but the bus numbers are here so you should be able to find them. It'll take a few hours, but you should be in Seattle by this afternoon. Oh, and here," she stopped reached into her bag for a moment, and pulled out a brown paper bag with my name on it.

I lifted one eyebrow, curious and amused. "What is this?"

"I made you a lunch"

I shook my head, amazed. "Bella, I – "

"Hey! Come on, let's go!" the bus drivers rude interruption only intensified my anxiety as my last moments with Bella were coming to an end. Thankfully, I didn't have to do anything because in that moment Bella had flung her arms around me and pulled me in a tight embrace, and instantly, I wrapped my arms around her just as intimately. We held each other for only seconds, but that's all the time it took for me to press into my memory the way she felt in my arms, the smell of her hair, the intense rush of endorphins coursing through my body as I held this most incredible woman.

The bus driver again called for us to hurry up. Slowly, Bella pulled away and looked up at me with sad eyes. Quietly, she said, "Take care, Alice. You know where I am if you need me." And with that, she turned and made her way across the parking lot back to her truck. I silently boarded the bus and took a seat near the back. I looked out the window and tried to find Bella, but the bus was already pulling away and heading into the long winding roads that cut through the thick forests. I sighed and felt a pain tug at my heart, and after a few minutes of feeling sorry for myself, I opened the brown paper bag that Bella had given to me. Inside was a neatly wrapped turkey and avocado sandwich, a note with her address on it, and a one hundred dollar bill.

I brought my hands up to my face, and cried.


	10. Ch 9

The sweat was slowly dripping down my forehead in into my eyes. As my hands were occupied at the moment, scraping off the dirt from underneath my fingernails under the running water in the kitchen sink, I had to just let the sweat sting my eyes. I had been planting flowers around the brand new wooden sign in my front yard that said 'Bella's Bed and Breakfast'. Not very creative, but I love alliteration. I wasn't officially open for business yet. There were still some legal and financial things I had to take care of, but those wouldn't take long. I had just a week ago gotten my associates from the community college in hospitality, and was currently in training for my food and sanitation certificate. It was weird though, the fact that someone has to be certified to serve food that isn't rotten or diseased made me question the integrity of people who served food for a living. I pushed that thought from my head and thought about how I needed to go into town and get sheets for the double beds upstairs. So far I only had two bedrooms and three beds for guests to use, but not too many people come through here as it is, so hopefully it won't be a problem. I figured I could sleep on the sofa if push came to shove, but if business ever picks up I'll build an extension to the house, with a few more bedrooms and a nice patio to eat or hang out.

The doorbell ringing brought me out of my home decorating fantasies.

"Just a sec!" I called as I dried my hands on the towel that was draping from the handle on the stove. As I swung open the door I groaned internally at the person I saw.

Jake smiled wide. "Hey Bella!"

"Ugh, what do you want?" I rolled my eyes to the ceiling and walked away, leaving the door open for him to come in. This was a common occurrence in my house. Jake and I have been friends for years, but his only objective for ever coming over to my house was to watch my tv and eat my food. Don't get me wrong, I love hanging out with the guy and he's a total sweetheart. He just gets on my nerves like any good friend would.

Ignoring my attitude, Jake walked right in and helped himself to a Pepsi.

"I was about to head into town and wanted to see if you wanted to come with. You said you needed to pick up some things anyway, right?"

"Now's not really a good time Jake, I'm kind of busy here converting oxygen into carbon dioxide."

"Is that why you're all sweaty?"

"Yes."

"Well when you're done do you want to go to the movies?"

"I don't think your girlfriend would like that very much."

Jake scoffed, "What she doesn't know won't hurt her."

"Jake, I really don't want to be on the receiving end of Leah's wrath" I said, thinking about the one time, ONE TIME, I came over to Jakes house to see if he could figure out why my laptop was on the fritz. Out of sure frustration he threatened to throw my computer out the window and in a fake rage I jumped on his back preparing to fight to the death to spare my computer. We ended up in a tickle fight when Leah walked in and, God damn, if looks could kill, you wouldn't have been able to identify my body.

"She not that bad…" He started, but I interrupted.

"Jake, the fact that I have a vagina is reason enough for her to hate me. So, no. I don't want to mess with that, and I certainly can't go to the movies with you alone."

"Oh fine." He stood up and headed towards the living room. As he settled himself on the couch, I sighed.

"And what do you think you're doing?"

He gave me a cheeky smile and asked, "Can I watch some tv?"

I ran my fingers through my hair, "Jake, I really have a lot of stuff to do today, and I have to go to class tonight for my certificate."

Jake sighed, "Oh fine. Are you going to be busy Saturday? We're having a BBQ on the beach."

"Yeah, sure, sounds like fun. Let me know when."

"I'll call you." Jake said, as he let himself out. I turned to run upstairs for a shower, when I heard Jake say, "Well hello there!"

Curious, I turned back and saw Jake standing in the doorway, blocking from view whoever was on the other side of him. Though, I did hear a female voice ask for me by name, and Jake reply flirtatiously, asking for her name. When I heard the name Alice, I quickly walked over to the door and shoved Jake out of the way, only to be met with those familiar blue eyes.

I was stunned. I couldn't believe that it was Alice standing on my front porch. She looked healthy, not at all like I had found her three months ago when she wondered in from the cold. There were no longer any dark circles under her eyes, and her skin and hands no longer looked worn and damaged from exposure to the elements. She was wearing a simple blue and white summer dress, and light blue converse low tops. It made me very aware that I was still dressed in a ratty old tank top, used specifically for things like painting, or gardening, and that I sweating and flushed from working out in the summer heat. Even though I thought I looked awful at the moment, Alice beamed.

"Hi Bella," I could tell Alice was nervous from how she couldn't decide what to do with her hands and leaned from one foot to the other. "I'm sorry, I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"Oh, with Jake here? No way! In fact he was just on his way out."

"Well I could stick around and meet your friend." Jake lecherously smiled at Alice.

Not missing a beat, I reached down the back of Jakes pants and unapologetically gave him a painful wedgie. Jake immediately clenched his teeth and stood up on his tiptoes.

"On second thought I just remembered something that I have to do right now that's very far away from here."

Jake waddled back to his truck as I called out "Call me about Saturday!" He proceeded to give me the finger.

"Friend of yours?" Alice asked.

"I guess." I replied. "Come on in."

I held the door open and as Alice walked by I could make out the faint scent of flowers and internally I swooned, and then remembered I probably smelt like dirt, so I kept as far away from her as possible.

"Would you like something to drink?" I asked, not knowing what to say. I poured myself some water as she replied, "No thank you."

We both took a seat at the kitchen table and I babbled on with questions about what she had been up to, what she was doing with life, etc. My mouth kept going even though my brain kept telling me to shut the hell up.

"I'm living with my brother for now, but he's deploying next month."

"He's in the military?"

"Yeah, Army. He's doing another tour, but only for a few months. He works for some special forces that he's not allowed to talk about, so I know nothing about it."

"Oh, wow, well, let him know I appreciate what he does."

Alice chuckled a little, "He actually hates when people say that. Especially since they probably wouldn't appreciate it so much if they knew he was a flaming homo."

I almost choked on m water. Clearing my throat a bit, I reiterated, "Your brother is gay?"

"Yeah. Does that offend you or something?"

"No! I mean, I don't know, I can't really imagine why anyone would want to work for an organization that doesn't accept openly gay people."

"Well, you'll have to ask him that. He loves what he does. He's just waiting for that damn repeal to go through so he doesn't have to lie to his co-workers about what he does on the weekends."

"I'm sure there's a lot more to it than that. Like, wouldn't he lose his job if people found out?"

"Well, what the politicians don't know is that most people just don't give a damn anyway, so even if someone found out about him, chances are they wouldn't say anything."

"Oh, well that's a relief. Does being gay run in your family?" The words left my mouth before I had a chance to think about what I was saying. My eyes widened and I suddenly felt my face grow hot. Alice just looked amused.

"Are you implying something Bella?"

"You wear men's underwear." DAMN IT! I did it again. I mentally smacked myself in the face but was distracted by Alice's hearty laughter. She was blushing but didn't seem to be embarrassed by my comments.

"How do you even know that, Bella?"

"Well, when you were here I did your laundry, remember?"

"Oh yeah, thanks for that." She giggled, "You know, I was wondering the same thing about you too, since you have rainbow jewelry in your room."

I pretended to be offended, "And just what were you doing in my room?"

"Snooping" she said, indifferent.

I narrowed my eyes at her and sipped my water slowly. She giggled again, "Sorry, my curiosity gets the best of me sometimes. I don't mean to offend."

"It's ok. My room isn't really mine anymore anyway. I had to move down the hall."

"Yeah, I noticed the work you've been doing out front. How's business?"

"Booming, if you couldn't tell."

"Yeah, the phone is really ringing off the hook here."

"Yup" I said, popping my lips on the 'P'

We were silent for a beat and I looked at my empty glass on the table, trying to think of things to say, though only one thing came to mind.

"Alice, what are you doing here?"

She didn't look at me for a moment; instead she fiddled with the hem of her dress and looked like she was struggling to find the courage to say what she wanted to say. Finally she looked up at me with seriousness in her eyes.

"I wanted to come and see you Bella. In all honesty," she paused and slowly reached across the table to grasp my hand, interlocking her fingers through mine. My heart leapt to my throat. "I haven't been able to think of anything but you since the moment we met."

I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves. The butterflies in my stomach were making my heart ache with need, but I was able to slowly bring her hand up to my lips, and place a light kiss on her soft knuckles. I took her hand and placed her palm to my cheek and softly nuzzled into it.

"Alice, you have no idea how happy it makes me to hear you say that."

Alice bit her bottom lip. She took my hand again and pulled for me to stand up. When we were both at eye level with one another, Alice took her fingers and gently brushed back the hair that had fallen in my eyes, taking he other hand and gently placing it on my hip.

"These past few months," she began, leaning in and placing a soft kiss on my jaw, just beneath my ear, "had been so painful for me, to be apart from you. You certainly left an impression on me, Bella."

I looked down sadly, "Alice, why didn't you say something? Why didn't you write or call? It wasn't easy for me, either, but I had no way of contacting you…" I was on the verge of tears and couldn't continue.

Alice gently cupped my face in both hands and looked me in the eyes. "I know Bella, I'm so sorry for that. I wanted so badly to call you or write to you to thank you for everything you had done for me. You are the most amazing person I have ever met, but I made a promise to myself to get my life together before I talked to you again. I got a job, and a car… I enrolled in school again… Bella I don't ever want you to see me with nothing ever again. I want to be strong for you. I want to be the one to take care of you if you ever need it, like you did for me…"

I pulled Alice into me and embraced her tightly. I couldn't help but let a tear fall and let out a sniffle. "Alice, you are so sweet…" For a while we stood in my kitchen holding each other, taking in the feeling once more of our bodies pressed against one another. Finally I pulled back and wiped the tears from my face, embarrassed that I had been crying in the first place.

"You know I don't care whether you have everything or nothing, right?"

"I care." Alice said simply.

"Alice, I'm just glad you're here. I was afraid I was never going to see you again."

"Believe me, I wouldn't have let that happen. After everything you did for me, I was determined to come back to you. I…" She trailed off as she hooked her fingers through my belt loops and pulled me closer to her. "I want to be with you, Bella."

"Oh, Alice…" I breathed, reaching up and wrapping my arms around her. I couldn't stand it anymore, and kissed her fully on the lips. Her grip tightened around my waist and I wanted to devour her. I sucked and pulled on her plump bottom lip with my teeth and could feel her moans vibrate through my body. She reciprocated by sucking my tongue into her mouth, and the sensation ignited the most pleasurable feeling between my legs. Alice began to move, guiding me towards the kitchen counter until I could feel it against my back. She pushed into me, pressing the length of her body against me and slipping one of her legs between mine. I reached down and ran my hand along the length of her long, smooth leg, hiking up her skirt in the process. I was able to lift her up, turn her around, and sit her down on the counter. As we kissed my hands stayed beneath her skirt and my fingernails grazed along the sensitive skin of her thigh. She moaned softly into my mouth and ran her fingers through my hair, gently pulling me closer to her. We had slowed our kissing to gentle, sensual caresses, but that was even more tortuous to me than what we were doing previously. I never wanted to stop kissing her. I had never before felt such a pure, loving, yet savage desire to be with someone in my whole life. As I was thinking this, my fingers had intuitively found their way to the hem of Alice's panties. Alice didn't seem to mind until my thumb teasingly grazed over the sensitive spot between her legs.

Alice gasped and tensed. I quickly removed my hands and apologized, but Alice gently cupped my face in her hands and said, "Bella," desire was dripping in her voice, "take me to your room." Without missing a beat, Alice hopped down from the counter and I grabbed her hand and led her upstairs. Once the door closed Alice's mouth was back on mine. Again, I scooped her up so that her legs could wrap around me as I carried her to my bed. Alice kicked off her shoes and pushed for me to sit up on my knees while she did the same.

"Bella," she whispered against my lips, "Please touch me." She kissed me again and took my hand in hers. "I need you."

Without warning, Alice took my hand guided it under her panties. When my fingers glided over her slick center, we both moaned at the contact. She felt amazing, so soft and warm. I teasingly ran my fingers up and down her folds, gathering some lubrication over my fingers. Alice clung to me and cooed softly in my ear. She whispered, "Baby, oh baby…" over and over and when I took my middle finger and skillfully placed the right amount of pressure over her clit, she cried out and pulled away slightly. Her sudden movement caught me off guard and the next thing I knew we were toppling over the side of the bed and onto the hard wooden floor. I had landed on my back with Alice sprawled on top of me. After having a quick laugh, I asked if she was OK.

"Mmm yes baby, I'm just fine." She replied, positioning herself so that she was sitting atop me with one of my legs between hers. She began grinding against my thigh, and my hands instinctively reached for her hips, helping her rock back and forth. Alice closed her eyes and bit her lip, her hands tugging tightly on my shirt. She looked so sexy from this angle, with her face flushed and eyes closed in concentration. I wanted more. I wanted to do more.

"Alice," I said quietly, "baby, let me eat you out."

Alice moaned, "And why should I let you do that?" she teased.

"Because," I started, "I'm dying to taste you. You're so beautiful, and I know you taste beautiful, too. Please baby…" I trailed off, my eyes closing and my body squirming underneath hers as the thought of her legs wrapped around my head entered my mind. Alice took my hands and pinned them above my head. I tilted my head to the side so she could nip at my neck and gently kiss and suck on the sensitive spots. Now I was the one grinding against her. I bit my own lip in an attempt to not seem too eager, but Alice wasn't buying it. She licked my lips and I opened my mouth, but she pulled away slightly. Sitting up on top of me, she unhooked her dress in the back and lifted it over her head, revealing a simple black lace strapless bra and blue and white-stripped panties with an anchor stitched into the side.

"Cute." I said, teasingly. Before she could respond, I sat up and captured her lips with mine, and she automatically wrapped her arms around me. With Alice so comfortably in my lap, I glided my hands up and down her body, stopping only to reach around and unhook her bra, tossing it carelessly to the side. I kissed my way down her chest and she ran her fingers through my hair, lightly scratching my scalp. It felt amazing when she did that. She moaned happily when I finally took one of her nipples into my mouth and gently nipped at the sensitive flesh. She began grinding her hips against me, eager to find some kind of contact, but I held her still, wanting her to wait, to let the anticipation build up. Finally when neither of us could take it any longer, I laid her down on her back as I kissed my way down her torso. She rolled her hips into me as I scratched and nipped at her hips, and gently hooked my fingers under the elastic waistband of her panties. I contemplated prolonging my endeavors in order to torture her a bit more, but once I got a whiff of her scent, my eyes rolled to the back of my head and my mouth began to water with desire and I quickly discarded her panties with her bra so I could devour her.

I finally brought my mouth to her, and she dapped one leg over my shoulder, digging her heel into my back. I didn't mind, however, I was too busy exploring this new territory and gently sucking and nipping at spots that made Alice moan and bite her lip and roll her hips. I reached up and grasped Alice's hips, pulling her more closely to me. In return she reached down and grabbed a fistful of my hair, pulling me in tighter. It was almost suffocating, but it turned me on so much that I was dying to reach down and touch myself, but decided that I would save it for Alice to take care of. I made my tongue stiff and rolled it over Alice's clit over and over again. Looking up, I could see her chest rise and fall, panting heavily. The view turned me on so much I moaned into her pussy, causing her to moan as well. I paused for a second to take a breath of air, but before she could miss me I went back down and began slowly licking and sucking at her labia.

"Bella, honey," Alice started, looking me sweetly in the eye, "don't stop. Keep doing what you were just doing, baby, I'm so close."

Immediately I went back to concentrating on her clit, and Alice threw her head back in ecstasy. I sucked Alice's clit between my lips and assaulted it with my tongue over and over again, causing her to reach out and grab ahold of anything she could get a good grip on. I could hear Alice's breath grow deeper and the grip her legs had around me tightened. Her whole body tensed and she was slowly lifting her hips off the floor. The next thing I knew Alice let out the most erotic cry I had ever heard and her hips came crashing down back to the floor. I eased up on my ministrations and moved my head along with Alice's rolling hips, not wanting to break contact just yet. Alice's cries had gradually died down to satisfied sighs as she gently ran her fingers through my hair.

"Oh, Bella…" Alice began, "Oh, God… Bella…mmmhm" She bit her lip as she quietly succumbed to the after shocks. I quietly crawled up her body and placed gentle kisses on her lips and nuzzled her neck.

"You taste just as beautiful as I imagined," I whispered. "I could do that for hours."

Alice giggled, "I'm going to hold you to that someday." Smiling, she opened her eyes and looked lovingly at me. "Hey, guess what?" She said.

"What's that?" I asked.

She pulled my head down so our lips were inches apart, and before she would let me kiss her, she breathed softly against my mouth, "It's your turn."


	11. Ch 10

There was a surprising amount of energy left in me, even though Bella had just made me come like a fucking Mac truck. She had knocked the breath out of me more than once this afternoon. The first time was when she came to the door looking like she had put in a hard days work. She was only wearing a tank top and a pair of grass stained jeans, and when I walked by she had the most pleasurable scent of the earth emanating from her. As soon as that scent registered in my brain, it awakened something feral and savage within me, and I had to stop myself from throwing her on the kitchen table and having my way with her right then and there. At the time, I didn't even know if Bella had feelings for me, or if she was even queer. It took so much for me to find the courage to reach out across the kitchen table and hold her hand in mine, but now I was definitely glad that I did. The second time she had knocked the breath out of me was when she taken my bottom lip between her soft supple ones and pulled and sucked so gently. If she was that talented with her mouth I couldn't help but imagine what she could do with her head between my legs. The mental image drove me to be closer to her, so I led her back to the kitchen counter and pushed myself up against her, aching to have as much contact as I possibly could.

Thankfully, my desires had been fulfilled ten fold, and now it was my turn to show Bella just how much I appreciated everything she has done for me. With a newfound energy, I grabbed Bella's shirt and nearly ripped it off her, throwing it across the room. She wasn't wearing a bra – something I had noticed earlier but didn't have the chance to enjoy until just now. Not having the strength to wait any longer, I harshly grabbed Bella's breasts and bit down on her collarbone, inciting a happy groan from Bella at the rough contact. I moved my mouth to her neck, and licked and sucked the sensitive spots in that area, enjoying the feeling of her squirming under my touch. My mouth replaced my hands on Bella's breasts, as my fingers surreptitiously made their way down Bella's tight stomach and hastily undid the button and fly on her jeans. Bella leaned back as I kissed and nipped my way from her breasts to her hipbone, gently rolling my tongue over the sensitive pressure points located there. Bella's head rolled back as she stifled a moan. She closed her eyes, bit her lip and ran her fingers through her hair like she always does. She lifted her bottom off the floor in an effort to help me slid off her jeans. Once they were tossed aside, I grabbed her hands and told her to sit up.

"We're moving to the bed."

"Is that so?" She asked, as we both moved ourselves to Bella's bed, still holding hands. "And why have we done this?" She asked, taking one of my hands to her mouth and gently kissing my palm.

I smiled slyly and chuckled a little, "Because I don't want you to hurt your knees."

Bella giggled, "Um, what?" She added eloquently.

Faster, and with more strength than Bella probably expected, I grabbed her hips and flipped her around, pulling her hips towards me. Bella gasped my name in surprise as she suddenly found herself on her hands and knees with me behind her. She gasped again when I skillfully shoved her panties aside and plunged two of my fingers into her. Bella's fingers curled around her blankets in an effort to have something to hold on to, while I slowly moved my fingers in and out of her hot wet heat. God I loved the way she felt.

"Mmm, Bella, I love that you're so wet for me." I nearly moaned, leaning down to gently kiss her back. Bella buried her head in her blankets and moaned.

"Yeah, baby," she said, "You're hitting it just right… fuck" Bella cried out as my fingers finally found and brushed over her g-spot. The noises she was making were turning me on so much, but I was determined to give Bella an orgasm that was just as amazing as the one she gave me. I wiggled and curled my fingers over Bella's g-spot, emitting the most pleasurable noises from her, and as a result I was becoming more and more turned on. It almost became unbearable. I wanted to be touched too, but I had to give Bella 100% of my attention. I wanted to. I wanted to be the one to give her so much pleasure, for it to be _my_ fingers that was making her come, _my _name she was calling out.

I leaned over her a little, and brought my left hand around to the front of her. As soon as my fingers made contact with her clit, we both moaned at the sensation. The need for me to have Bella touch me was so great that I pretended I was in her position and she was the one touching me like this. My thoughts led me to imagine what Bella's fingers would feel like inside of me, because so far she hadn't even entered me. The thought of her penetrating me caused me to unconsciously pound my fingers into her harder and as a result, Bella's cried became louder.

"Alice," Bella said, pulling me out of the thoughts, "I'm… fuck, I'm close. Please, Alice, don't stop don't stop don't…" she trailed off, and her body became tense under me. Her mouth opened to form the most beautiful 'o' as the most erotic cry I had ever heard escaped her lips. The blankets she was holding onto were harshly balled up into her fists. I suddenly felt her muscles clamp tightly around my fingers, and I reveled in the feeling of experiencing with her wave after wave of her orgasm as it coursed through her body. When she had finally calmed down, I removed my fingers from Bella and she rolled over onto her back, allowing me to gaze over her beautiful body. She was gleaming with sweat, and little bits of her hair were matted down to her forehead, which she quickly wiped to the side with a brush of her hand.

I straddled Bella, leaning down to kiss her. She gladly kissed back, and mischievously pulled on my bottom lip with her teeth and growled. I moaned and unconsciously grinded my hips against her, causing Bella to roll her hips underneath me. My eyes rolled back and I moaned at the contact. I sucked Bella's tongue into my mouth and took her hands, placing them on my thighs. She immediately raked her nails along the length of my thigh, and reached around me, cupping my ass in her hands. The motion caused me to rub against her in a very pleasurable way, which didn't go unnoticed by Bella.

"You want me to touch you baby?" she asked.

I bit my lip and shyly nodded my head. Bella giggled, and slowly ran her nails over my inner thighs, causing an excited shiver to course through my body. Watching my reaction through half lipped eyes, Bella pushed my panties aside with her thumb and entered me with two of her fingers. My eyes rolled back and a sound I had never heard myself make before left my mouth as the sensation of Bella finally filling me to the hilt with her beautiful long fingers overcame me. Bella sat up and pulled me closer to her. I wrapped my arms around her head and held her to my chest as I rode her fingers.

"Mmm, Alice, baby," Bella said, gently kissing my breasts, "you feel so good, honey."

"You feel good too baby," I was able to croak out, "really, really good."

I could barely stand it, the way she felt inside of me. Suddenly I could feel my orgasm building up in me. I couldn't think at all right then, because before I knew it, I was holding Bella tightly against me and moaning her name into her ear over and over again. She held me tighter too, and softly moaned against me as I rode out my orgasm on her fingers. The waves that were crashing into me were slowly fading, and before they died completely I was sure to lay Bella back down and kiss her passionately. Slowly she removed her fingers from inside me so she could wrap her arms around me.

We laid there, entwined in each other, exhausted. I gave Bella soft, lazy kisses on the sensitive spots beneath her ear, and on her lovely red lips. Bella had her eyes closed.

"You're pretty fantastic, Alice." She said sleepily.

"Thanks, you're pretty rad yourself." I teased.

Bella giggled and rolled over, entwining her arms and legs with mine, and placed soft kisses along my neck and cheek. She lightly nipped at my earlobe, making me giggle.

"I wish I could stay in bed with you all day." Bella sighed.

"Oh, sorry, did I interrupt your chores?" I mumbled.

Bella smiled, "Yes, but it was a pleasant distraction."

I mumbled something incoherent and Bella giggled. "Hey, don't fall asleep on me now!"

"Sorry… after such amazing orgasms, you have depleted my energy."

"Well, do you think you'll have enough energy to go into town with me? I need to do some shopping."

"Shopping?" I perked up.

"Yeah. I have to go to the hardware store."

I looked at Bella incredulously, "Oh, you're one of _those_ lesbians."

Bella smirked. "I never said I was a lesbian." She reached over and pulled the down comforter over our naked bodies and we snuggled up close together. The cool blanket against our hot skin was comforting, and I curled up closer to Bella, entwining my legs with hers.

"Well, you sure fuck like one." I said, causing Bella to let out a hearty laugh.

"Well, the offer still stands, if you want to come with… when do you have to go back to Seattle anyway?"

"Whenever you kick me out." Bella smiled at this. "Actually, I don't want to step on your toes or anything so I can head out when we come back from shopping."

"Alice, you can stay the night if you want. Hell, stay five nights!"

I giggled, "You just want someone to sleep with every night"

"And day." Bella added.

"As much as I would like that, I do have a job I need to show up for. I unfortunately have a car payment that I begrudgingly need to support."

"Where do you work, anyway? If you don't mind me asking." Bella said.

I hesitated, fearing that she would make fun of me when I confessed the truth, but then again, I was too tired to care.

"I, uh, work at a UPS store." An amused smile came across Bella's features.

"Oh really?" She said, "Do you get to wear that little brown uniform?" She was teasing me.

"No… Just a black shirt they give me. I don't make much, but I get health insurance and they help me with schoolbooks and all that. So the benefits outweigh the fact that I have to handle mail and packages all day."

"It beats working in a dead diner" Bella said.

"True. And better yet I only work Monday through Friday so I have my weekends free and could possibly come down to Forks and see you sometimes?" I began fiddling with a piece of string that was sticking out of the comforter and wrapped it around my finger a few times, avoiding Bella's eyes as I said this. I could hear Bella giggle above me, though.

"Only if sometimes means every weekend"

I looked up at her and smiled, "I'll see what I can do."

Bella kissed me and then leaned back to stretch her arms over her head. "Well, in the meantime would you like to have a shower before we go out?"

"Only if you'll shower with me."

"I was just about to suggest that. Conserves water and all that."

"Oh, of course."

Bella smiled and leaned down to kiss me sweetly. When we broke apart she softly rubbed her nose with mine and I could see in her eyes that she made the gesture with the upmost love and affection that she could show me, but just couldn't say out loud yet. I know she saw through my eyes what I was feeling, too, by the way she looked down at me and smiled. Though, I would never wish upon anyone else the circumstances that led me to Bella, I'm glad it did, because otherwise I would have never been able to meet this wonderful person who is slowly but surly turning out to be the love of my life.

Readers: This is the end of this story. Sorry it took so long to update, but I recently started school and had to take a hiatus from writing. I am also currently deployed (though ironically enough I have better wi-fi here than I did back home in the states) and while I wrote bits and pieces here and there, my work had to come first, and I was particularly busy this month. Anyway, sorry to keep you waiting for this last installment. Hope you enjoyed the story.


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